Not all Republicans are celebrating the special session as a victory over federal spending.

For representatives from rural areas, where unemployment is more than 20 percent in some pockets, it can be frustrating to hear their colleagues from urban centers like Phoenix denounce efforts to help the unemployed as unnecessary spending.

Here’s the simple mathematics of representative government: Arizona taxpayers pay for lawmakers to show up and vote on every bill in the Legislature. Now here’s the flaw in that equation: Lawmakers get paid whether they show up or not. Unfortunately, many Arizona residents were underrepresented at the Capitol during last year’s regular legislative session.